Remember those People Zoe Killed?

I remember back in the days when Zoe's lore released that there were two things on the boards, one was critiquing her lore story for grammar issues, the other was calling out Zoe for something that happened in her lore story. Zoe was mistaken for a spirit and the guardsmen in the town came in, they warned her and were trying to banish her, and eventually threw spears at her. Zoe's response was... this.

> When the men began throwing their weapons at Zoe, she manifested an arcane meteor and sent it on a flight path around the keep. Then, the twilight girl created a pair of portals to dodge the guardian’s spears, before finally redirecting the shooting star at her attackers.

> The meteor’s impact created an implosion, causing a chain reaction with the small particles it had gathered while flying, which resulted in a secondary explosion that thundered through the guards and their tower—annihilating the area into a fine dust.

Now, I should point out here that the town was not destroyed, only the guardsmen and the guard tower. This was confirmed in a post by a Rioter here. One of his responses to a post I made there is also the reason I wanted to make this post, in fact. This post also will cover some counter-arguments I have received, and the problems I have with them

Firstly, I will say that I believe the Aspects are a mistake. I hate them, and I have made the argument that they are horrible beings that deserve to be devoured by the Void. This may color my arguments Against Zoe and her aspect. please keep this in mind. Also, I could not find a Q&A for her, so if there was one, please give me a link so I can see it.

We know that the aspects are capable of influencing the minds of the host. Pantheon demonstrates this, as well as some parts of Diana's lore. We also know that Zoe was taken due to her similarities to the personality of the aspect (which doesn't say a lot of good about either of them.) Because of this, it makes it hard for me to say who is to blame for the incident, as Zoe is under the influence of the Aspect.

However, there is no doubt in my mind that one of them needs to be punished for the deaths of those guardsmen. The guardsmen were defending their families, homes, and lives. Zoe, for someone who wants to reconnect with humanity, brushes this off. There is something inhuman about that; this behavior is not normal for a child, or anyone really. No human ever just brushes off the death's they are responsible for unless they have certain mental disorders.

I have three theories about this; the first is that the aspect stops Zoe from feeling any sort of distress. Think about it, Zoe was kidnapped by the aspect, separated from her family and friends, and gaining superpowers. I don't know if she COULD have went back if she so chose to, but the thought doesn't seem to occur to her. Everything she knew is long dead, her people are gone, and she has no reaction. Because Zoe seems to have the maturity of a ten-year-old, I don't want to blame her for it, so my first thought is that The Aspect prevents her from thinking about the concequences of her actions. It just wants to annoy it's fellows while doing it's job, and because it might make Zoe... distressed due to the fact that the message might involve death and despair. It's helping her, but because it's an inhuman being that sees humanity as a tool, just prevents her from thinking it.

The Second theory I have is that Zoe doesn't care because she has some form of mental disorder, I even go so far as to say she has some form of Sociopathy. I mean, she is fairly self-centered and doesn't seem to posses any self-awareness of it. People probably wouldn't assume this if she hadn't killed those guardmen, but there are hints in her lines, like calling the Sol, an enslaved creature that is supposed to have a role in the universe, her dog and treats him only slightly better as a pet. She also casually brushes off Ezreal's death should she kill him, but as that is non canon, I'm not sure if I should use that as evidence against her.

The Third theory is the combination of both. The Aspect apparently chose heir hosts based on having similar goals and personalities. With this in mind, I personally think this may mean that the Aspect picked Zoe because he saw her traits, and those traits can be applied to the aspect in some degree. This means that the Aspect is similarly dismissive of the chaos and damage it causes. They have been together for so long that they are, for all intents and purposes, the same person. I got this idea from playing Skullgirls and going through Eliza's story, because both of them are inherently inhuman, but still have human traits.

In any case, I lean to the first, as I hate the Aspects and any chance to vilify them delights me to no end. Not that I have to try very hard, but it's still disturbingly easy to paint them as horrible people. Still, Zoe's creators want her to be seen as whimsical and fun, and to be fair, her gameplay and art direction really sell that aspect about her. It's why I hate what she did, because this child, with the powers of a god, killed innocent people when she easily could have avoided it. (This was also comfirmed by the same rioter) This is not normal behavior for anyone. Hell, at least the other Hosts are adults and had some degree of choice (even if I think it's an illusion, given that there's no garuntee that they would climb back down Targon without the magical powers.) Zoe had no choice, she chose the ball, but she had no way of knowing what that choice would lead to.

Now, for some counter arguments I have had.

Zoe sees People as ants because of being an Aspect, and that's why she doesn't care.

I buy this from Sol, but that's because he isn't human, nor was he ever. Zoe is still human (If I hit her hard enough, as demonstrated by Sol nuking Lady Pantheon, she will die), the only thing inhuman about her is the aspect. She knows humans are not ants, while she hasn't interacted with them, she knows they are people. There are not on the same power-level, but she is a human in mind (unless I'm right about the aspect) and she should know better than to do what she did.

Moreover, I am human. I find it easier to side with humans who have families, goals, and lives. Zoe killed those people because they made the understandable assumption that she was a spirit. For comparison, Tahm and Eve can be considered spirits and we know spirits can take many forms, so Zoe looking like a child is not a valid defense. She also promptly demonstrated the fact she was dangerous by turning them to dust, As far as I am concerned, I don't care if Zoe sees them as insignificant, because these people were defending themselves and didn't deserve to die. If this is the reason, then Zoe needs to learn the classic "With great power comes great responsibility."

Zoe has been gone for millennia, that's why she doesn't care about human morality.

Zoe was raised by humans first. She may have spent more time with the aspects, but she was raised by humans for the informative years of her life. Yes, she's thousands of years old, but I expect her to have empathy to humans, as that's is the basic building block of human society that is drilled into kids heads the moment they are brought into the world.

Let's compare her to Two other characters of similar mentalities, Lulu and Annie. Lulu is weird and has bad social skills, but her attempt to recontect to her people were playing a game with children, and turning them into flowers and animals to spice it up. That was probably harmless, I mean we know whimsy doesn't last forever, but understandably the parents of those children didn't like that. Lulu has an odd way of thinking, but it's never really shown to be actively harmful to others, even in spite of being separated from her family. Time passed differently for her, and Zoe sees time... differently. One person even told me she sees it all at once (Like Doctor Manhattan!).

Annie is about the same physical age as Zoe is mentally (seriously, I think she's supposed to be 15, but the way she acts makes me think she's still in Elementary, Early middle school if I'm being generous.) and like Zoe has powers that probably should not be in the hands of children. The main difference is that Annie has people in her life who will train her to be responsible for her powers. Worse case scenario she becomes a repeat of Syndra, but with fire and a hellbeast at her side. Zoe... is already the worse case scenario honestly, as she doesn't seem to care, and as far as I know no one can stop her. I truest Annie because she seems to be content to stay with her parents, I don't trust Zoe because the very nature of her powers and her casual willingness to use them makes me think I should start running, and that it's far to late for me.

Honestly, I hope the lore team doesn't forget this. Those people died, and Zoe literally suffers no consequences from this. While I know the Lore team intended for her to be a whimsical character, Those deaths stand in stark contrast to that image. She is a child, so while I want to blame the aspect for her behavior, I am not sure how culpable she is in this.

I hope there is a way to kill an aspect without killing the host, because if there isn't, well... Zoe is a danger to everyone around her. Eventually, someone is going to have enough of her and she won't be able to magic her way out. No one, even Zoe's worst haters, want to see her dead. I want her to suffer consequences, but death is only the last resort for someone of her age. The Adult aspects had some sort of understanding and a choice, even if I think it was more of an illusion of one, but Zoe didn't choose this, nor is she mature enough to handle the responsibility. This is what makes it wrong; she has godlike power, and no desire for responsibility.

Anyways what are your thoughts on Zoe? did I hit the nail on the head, or am I missing something? Please tell me in the comments.